Essay on A Society of Oppression in A Handmaids Tale

A Society of Oppression in A Handmaids Tale As the saying goes, history repeats itself. If one of the goals of Margaret Atwood was to prove this particular point, she certainly succeeded in her novel A Handmaids Tale. In her Note to the Reader, she writes, The thing to remember is that there is nothing new about the society depicted in The Handmaidens Tale except the time and place. All of the things I have written about ...have been done before, more than once... (316). Atwood seems to choose only the most threatening, frightening, and atrocious events in history to parallel her book by--specifically the enslavement of African Americans in the United States. She traces the development of this institution, but from the†¦show more content†¦That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where there was none before... (192). Once the oppressed group is demoted to it, or property, freedoms can be taken away. Property cannot read or write for example, or leave their respective grounds--a plantation in the case of slaves, or the Center in the case of the Handmaids--without an escort or master. Segregation is also an issue, as blacks could not sit with the whites at church or eat at the same dinner table, the Handmaids were not permitted to sit with the Wives at assemblies or eat at their banquet tables. In addition, a Handmaid does not have any claim on her own child, who belongs to her masters, the Commander, and his wife, just as a slave mother would have no right to keep her child from her master if he wished to sell it. Finally, there is the renting of women to men, not unlike the renting of slaves to farmers, as property of the owner (of course the rent money does not go to the worker; what could an it need with such a human invention?). As the Commander demonstrates to Offred when she enters the bord ello, He slips around my wrist a tag...like tags for airport luggage. If anyone asks you, say your an evening rental, he says... (233). An earlier Commander set this trend by announcing, Let women learn silence, with all subjection, (221). After all, property cannot be capable of rebellion, it is merelyShow MoreRelatedThe Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Essay2490 Words   |  10 Pages† (Atwood 24). The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, is a novel set in the near future where societal roles have severely changed. The most notable change is that concerning women. Whereas, in the past, women have been gaining rights and earning more â€Å"freedom to’s†, the women in the society of The Handmaid’s Tale have â€Å"freedom froms†. They have the freedom from being abused and having sexist phrases yelled at them by strangers. 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